Parenting is hard work. I know that’s a cliche, but it’s a well-earned cliche.

Kids are pretty awesome, and they can even teach you a thing or two about reading, but they also have their moments. That’s why, if you want to be a parent, it’s important to make sure you are not a mental whack job.

Mental whack jobs who are parents usually produce kids who eventually become mental whack jobs themselves. This is not good.

Since fiction is often just a mirror of reality, there’s a lot to learn from literary parents, both good and whack jobbish.

Quite a bit, actually. Let’s take at some parenting tips I put together based on lessons I’ve learned from literary parents.